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Restoration of old Bucharest put off once again
Ciprian Domnisoru Art galleries in the heart of the Lipscani area. Renovation works on Bucharest's historical center have been delayed once
again, after the bidding held on Monday by City Hall, as none of the nine
companies that had bought the task book were present. The complex project for
the renovation of the historical center, for which the Bucharest municipality
had obtained a 25 million euro loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) should be implemented by April of 2007. The total value
of the investment is 35 million euros, the remaining 10 million being supplied
by Bucharest City Hall through the issue of municipal bonds and grants from the
Dutch government.
Although they had paid 500 euros to purchase the task book, none of the nine companies, which are based in Romania, Spain, Austria, Germany and Greece, which had announced their interest in the project were present at the bidding. Asked about the reasons for the low interest of construction companies, Bucharest chief architect and project coordinator for the renovation of the historical center Catalin Cazacu said "I don't know...it might be that the complexity of works, the stipulations imposed in the task book and the way in which we asked for the works to be executed have overwhelmed the bidders ... This project is not a simple asphalting work everyone is good at and everyone fights to obtain. It involves works of a different nature, more complex, mixed, meaning city infrastructure, road infrastructure combined with urban furniture." Strabag (Austria), Spedition UMD (Bacau - Romania), Porr Construct (Romania), Bau Unter Nehmung Ganit Graz (Romania-Germany), and Sedesa (Romania-Greece) were among the companies that did not show up for the bidding. The terms imposed by the ERBD could also have been a factor that deterred the companies from making offers. Therefore, the works, which were initially scheduled to begin in June, have been postponed, announced Cazacu. No date has been yet established for starting works. In the task book, Bucharest City Hall requested the contractor to deposit participation guarantees of 200,000 euros and to prove it has completed similar projects valued in excess of 20 million euros in the past five years. Another requirement imposed in the task book was that the winning company have a turnover of at least 30 million euros for the past three years. Moreover, modernization works should be performed using specialized technology, as no excavation work is allowed in the area of the historical center. "The replacement of the utilities networks would be done using neodig technology, that is, without excavation works. In other words, the contractor has to work underground to replace the utilities networks," Cazacu explains. Although the start of the restoration works has been delayed for the third time in the last year, municipality officials maintain the financing for the project would not be lost. "We will certainly not lose financing. We will probably revise the requirements in the task book, with ERBD agreement, of course, but the financing will not be lost', Cazacu said. Modernization works on the infrastructure in the area of the historical center were scheduled to begin at the end of June, a year later than initially announced. In spite of this, Bucharest should have a completely renovated historical area within 12 years' time, according to municipal estimates. Even if the financing came in April 2003, City Hall used the first funds, one million euros, in 2005. The money was used for project design and consultancy. Mayor of Bucharest Adriean Videanu had announced last year that the works for the restoration of the historical center infrastructure were to begin in November 2005. At the beginning of this year, Videanu blamed the lack of staff or their poor training for the delays in the start of the project. *** sustineti [romania_eu_list] prin 2% din impozitul pe 2005 - detalii la http://www.doilasuta.ro *** YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
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